Effects of Autonomy‐Supportive Music Instruction on Student Wellness: A Cluster‐Randomized Test of Psychological Need Satisfaction and Autonomous Motivation as Motivational Mechanisms

This study examines the effects of autonomy‐supportive music instruction on student wellness and investigates the underlying motivational mechanisms through which such instruction may promote wellness in university music education. Drawing on self‐determination theory, a cluster‐randomized experimental design was implemented among undergraduate music students in China. Intact classes were randomly assigned to an autonomy‐supportive instructional condition or a control condition. Data were collected at three time points using paper‐based questionnaires, and multilevel analyses were used to account for the nested structure of students within classes. The results indicate that autonomy‐supportive music instruction increased students' psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation. In turn, both psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation were positively associated with post‐intervention student wellness. Multilevel mediation analyses using bootstrapping revealed significant indirect effects of autonomy‐supportive instruction on student wellness through both psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation, whereas the direct effect was no longer significant after the mediators were included. Overall, the findings provide experimental evidence that autonomy‐supportive music instruction can promote student wellness by shaping students' motivational experiences. The study extends self‐determination theory to a performance‐oriented, non‐Western music education context and highlights psychological need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as distinct motivational pathways linking instructional practice to student wellness.